§ Mr. ChurchillTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what has been the cost to the balance of payments over each of the past five years for which figures are available in respect of imported energy supplies of(a) oil, (b) gas, (c) coal, (d) electricity via the channel connector and (e) overall.
§ Mr. Eggar[holding answer 4 December 1992]: Figures on a balance of payments basis are not available in the detail requested.
Data in the "Overseas Trade Statistics" value imports on a "cif" basis, that is, including the cost of freight and insurance to a United Kingdom port, and exports on an "fob" basis, that is, free on board at a United Kingdom port. A comparison on these bases gives the following levels of net exports:
£ million Oil1 Gas Coal2 Electricity Total 1987 4,073 -878 -281 -242 2,673 1988 2,571 -692 -376 -268 1,235 1989 1,095 -615 -404 -305 -228 1990 1,167 -519 -511 -200 -86 1991 1,102 -472 -637 -343 -351 1 Crude oil and petroleum products. 2 Includes other solid fuels. Source: Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom (CSO).